"Both of my kids pitched well last year as sophomores," said Coginchaug coach Ted Lombardo of winner Mike McShane and reliever Evan Rand, who picked up a save. "They took their lumps early last season, but by the end of the year were pitching well. Hey, we should have had a shutout today."

Indeed.

The scoreboard showed that Hale-Ray scored three times in the first inning, but they were about as bloody a trio of runs as they come. With two outs and the bases loaded, Hunter Humble hit a routine ground ball to shortstop Jack Granger, who threw the ball over the second baseman's head. Two runs scored on the error.

Tyler Rand followed with another grounder to short and Granger misplayed it. Jake Linares followed with an RBI single before McShane got the sixth out of the inning.

"McShane had to throw 40 pitches in that inning," said Lombardo. "That he settled down and pitched through the fifth helped us out a lot."

"I thought Shawn was very economical and after the first inning he settled down," said the coach. "We made mistakes in the fourth inning that cost us."

The Coginchaug fourth was similar to the Hale-Ray first. Two errors by shortstop Humble handed the Blue Devils two runs that enabled them to come from 3-2 down to win the game. But maybe the most important inning for the winners wasn't this inning, but the home first when they got right back in the game.

After the nightmare top of the first, Granger immediately atoned for his two boots by opening the season with a base hit. Jeff Grumm followed with a walk and after a fly ball to deep right by Yuri Morin, a ball that might have been out had it not been for the typhoon blowing in, Steve Thody got the biggest hit of the game when he lined a double up the right-center gap for two runs. It got Coginchaug right back in the game.

They took the 4-3 lead in the fourth, but reliever Rand walked a tightrope through the sixth and seventh.

"We had opportunities," said Gable. "We could have put the game away or come from behind, but we didn't. We had a chance to win in the last inning and you can't ask for much more than that. Every game we play with Coginchaug is like this."

In the sixth inning, Rand promptly gave up a base hit to Humble (2-for-4), got an out, gave up another hit, got another out, then gave up an infield single to load the bases. But he struck out Jason Traceski to leave 'em loaded.

In the seventh, the Coginchaug reliever got some help from his friends.

With runners on first and second and one out, Humble lined a single to left. Gable, who was coaching third, took a risk by sending the runner and it backfired. Left fielder Marco Rondinone made a terrific throw and Matt Wells, the runner from second, was out from here to the Bronx.

"We made a good play," said Lombardo.

Evan Rand then induced Tyler Rand to bounce to third for the final out.

Hale-Ray left 10 runners on base and outhit Coginchaug 9-4. Kevin Gawron was the only Blue Devil to get two hits and Carlson had two for the Little Noises..

In getting the win, McShane went five innings, allowed just four hits, walked three and struck out two. None of the runs were earned. Carlson took the loss, but his line was also good. In five innings he allowed four runs, but just two were earned. He gave up three hits, just one after the first, walked three and fanned five.

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